Another bridge scandal for Chris Christie -- and this one might involve a crime

Chris Christie has a remarkable talent for keeping his scandals separate and going -- like a master juggler with 10 balls in the air at once.   Then he drop one, and then another;   and it becomes clear as a pattern of behavior on his part.  

You almost have to admire the way he held that 2 hours press conference last year, declaring his innocence on the George Washington bridge closure and feigning "sadness" that someone on his staff would do such a thing, knowing all the while that he had done something that might really bring him down, involving another bridge, the Pulaski Skyway bridge.

In fact, this one might even involve criminal activity, because it involves fraudulent information about a bond sale to pay for major repairs to the Skyway.   Investigations are underway by the Manhattan District Attorney and by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Pulaski Skyway connects two cities wholly within New Jersey:   Newark and Jersey City.   It  has nothing to do with New York.   But Gov. Christie wanted to be known for getting the state budget under control.   In fact, soon after he came into office, he cancelled plans for major work on the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York City, and diverted those funds to other projects.

Now, faced with necessary repairs to the Skyway, Christie got creative.   Through Bill Baronie, his appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he brought great pressure on the Port Authority to provide the funding for the bridge, even though it has nothing to do with New York.

At first, the Authority refused, and its lawyers said it would not be legal.   It's not yet clear how he prevailed, but eventually the Port Authority caved in to Christie's pressure and agreed to allow bonds to be sold.    In order to justify it as a Port Authority project, the description for the bond sale called it "Lincoln Tunnel Access Infrastructure Improvements."

But the Skyway is 9 miles from the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel -- way across a large urban area that in no way is an access route to the tunnel.    And that is what makes it possibly fraudulent.

Christie is like that master juggler -- keeping all these balls up in the air.   But they're starting to fall, and even he can't keep up the act much longer.

Ralph